Artists & Illustrators August 2022 - Sample Issue

T GREA W NE !

LOOK

THE FAVOURITE MAGAZINE FOR ARTISTS

08

AUGUST 2022 • £5.25 9 770269 469214

T I P S • T E C H N I Q U E S • I D E A S • I N S P I R AT I O N

PRIZES WORTH OVER

N

FI

£15,000 !

Projects, ideas and challenges

L TO E NT E

R

Improve your art skills

C AL L A

TO BE WON with The British Art Prize

The RA Summer Exhibition Winners revealed

Is this the best connected man in art?

We ask Mark Cass from Cass Art

How to... PAINT YOUR GARDEN • DRAW A PORTRAIT IN COLOURED PENCIL

Sketchbook

Exhibitions IMAGES © THE ARTIST, COURTESY YORKSHIRE SCULPTURE PARK

T H E B E S T A R T S H OW S T O V I S I T T H I S AU G U S T

BILL LY NC H: THE EXILE OF DION YSIUS 6th August to 15th October This is the first major UK exhibition of work by American artist Bill Lynch, who died in 2013. He was, by all accounts, a force to be reckoned with, but lived on the fringes of the New York art world, which never took him to its heart. He 10 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

was influenced by Warhol and Alice Neel and his work in the 1970s and 1980s was mainly on salvaged ply and other found materials. This exhibition traces his wide-ranging interests, from mythology to ancient Chinese painting.

Brighton CCA, University of Brighton, Dorset Street BN2 0JY Brightoncca.art

REFR ACTIVE POOL: CONTEMPOR ARY PAINTING S IN LIVERPOOL To 8 Jan 2023 This exhibition, curated by Josie Jenkins and Brendon Lyons, showcases Liverpool talent and features a diverse mix of artistic practices. Some of the artists have previously exhibited at the Walker, but for others this is the first time their work has been displayed in a major gallery.

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool L3 8EL Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/refractivepool

REFRACTIVE POOL © ROBIN CLEWLEY

XXXXXXXXX

© BILL LYNCH, THE APPROACH

JANINE BURROWS, TABLE TO TIDE: A YORKSHIRE CONVERSATION To 23rd October Artist, designer and illustrator, Janine Burrows, celebrates her birthplace and all things Yorkshire.

Using mixed media – gouache, acrylic, pencil, oil pastel, even household paint – she depicts the countryside and coastal areas using subtle colour and delicate detailing. Her work deals with memories and captured moments, from her kitchen table and back garden to the North Yorkshire coast.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield WF4 4LG ysp.org.uk

NATURE ’S ART, GARDENS IN LEIC E STER AND BE YOND 6 August to 30 October This colourful exhibition looks at arts and crafts inspired by nature, and shows how gardens are resources of pleasure, healing and inspiration.

Objects on display range from ceramics and watercolours, to welly boots, and the exhibition explores the history of gardens in the region. There is work by William Morris, along with lesser-known Leicester artists like watercolourist Isabella Charters.

Newarke Houses, Leicester LE2 7BY

KE ATING ’S ALLEGORIE S OF C HANGE 20th August to 27th November Sean Keating was an Irish romantic realist artist, known for his images of the Irish War of Independence, and the subsequent Civil War. This exhibition looks at his role as a political commentator and chronicler of one of the most tempestuous periods in Irish history. His work, An Allegory, painted in 1924, focussed on the divisive nature of the conflict, and is a central part of this exhibition, marking the conclusion of the Decade of Centenaries.

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin nationalgallery.ie ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 11

TILE DESIGNED BY WILLIAM DE MORGAN, MADE AT THE SANDS END POTTERY, FULHAM, 1888-1897

ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2022

XXXXXXXXX PRESENTED, FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL COLLECTIONS OF IRELAND, 1952

ANATOM Y: A MAT TER OF DE ATH AND LIFE To 30 October This fascinating exhibition looks at the practice of dissection of human bodies and covers 500 years of medical exploration. It opens with sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, which led to greater understanding about the human body and the role of anatomy in the development of medical knowledge, then looks at Edinburgh as a centre for medical study. Items on display include a ‘mort safe’ - an iron box placed over a coffin to deter body snatchers – a full-body anatomical model, and casts of body parts and depictions of 18th Century operating theatres.

Also on display are William Burke’s skeleton and written confession, after he and Hare were convicted of killing 16 people and selling the bodies. The exhibition examines the circumstances that led to the murders and the relationship between science and deprivation, looking at the public reaction to the crimes and the anatomical practices responsible for them.

National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Anatomy: A Matter of Death & Life is part of Edinburgh Art Festival edinburghartfestival.com

Taslima, oil on linen, 50x40cm

H O W I W O R K I N T HE S T UDI O

Simon Davis You’ll find this artist painting in his home studio in East London and, depending on the time of year, he’ll either be illustrating comics or creating fine art, as Rebecca Bradbury discovers ▸

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 1 5

H O W I WORK IN T H E S TUDI O

I

t’s debatable whether or not a comic can be considered a piece of fine art. What is not in contention, however, is whether a comic book illustrator can also be a fine artist, because Simon Davis is living proof that it’s possible to be a master of both art forms.

A member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the East London-based artist spends half his time wowing the art establishment with his contemporary oil portraits, while the remainder of his working hours are spent creating pictures in gouache for fans of Britain’s cult sci-fi comic book, 2000ad, most notably on the Slaine and Sinister Dexter strips.

But don’t expect the cartoonish superhero figures, neon colour palettes and surrealist imagery typically associated with comic books. Instead, currently working on Thistlebone, he brings the folk horror story to life with dark, disquieting and painterly spreads, usually of foreboding forests interspersed with close-up, graphic faces.

Yet, all painted by hand, it remains a traditional process.

“I’m very much an old-fashioned comic book illustrator,” Simon explains. “I don’t even scan my paintings to send to the publishers, but take them up to Oxford to submit in person.”

After studying technical illustration at art school in the late eighties, he tried his hand at graphic design for a few years before fulfilling his dream to become a comic book illustrator. It would be another decade before he took up portraiture, yet the techniques he adopted while developing his unique comic book style have proved essential for his fine art practice.

“When I paint on my comics, I use flat, square watercolour brushes with gouache,” he says. “I really like layering on flat and solid colour, and tonally mixing it by eye, rather than blending. And it’s the exact way I paint in oils.”

Of course, with quicker drying times and no need to work in layers, gouache is better suited to the more energetic images and quick turnaround times required by comic book illustration. But Simon has long held a fascination with the painters who developed the square brush technique at the end of the 19th Century. Although attributed to the Impressionists working in France, Simon prefers the work of the British artists who took up the technique, citing Henry La Thangue of the Newlyn School as a particular favourite.

The process involves using the flat edge of a square brush to lay down the paint in a

16 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

Thistlebone: Poisoned Roots bookcover, oil on board, 45x35cm

I really like layering on flat and solid colour and tonally mixing it by eye jigsaw-type pattern of brushstrokes. “It’s an incredibly bold style, yet also so delicate and subtle,” he says. “I’d rather mould a face through angles of brushstrokes than blend it.”

Studying Simon’s portraiture, with its sculptural rendering and visible brushstrokes, the influence is clear. What inspired him to have a go at the genre of portraiture, however, was being introduced to the work of Phil Hale – a British based American artist who illustrated comic strips and Stephen King books before

Thistlebone interior page, gouache on watercolour board, 45x35cm

H O W I WO R K I N T HE S T UDI O

Plaits, oil on linen, 66x46cm

Ray Ching, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

Phil Hale, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

Chris Riddell, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

Mike Mignola, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

18 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

H O W I WO R K I N T HE S T UDI O Manko and Myrtle, oil on board, 65x45cm

making an impact in the fine art world with his raw, shocking and confrontational figurative works.

Hale is one of the artists Simon paid tribute to in a recent exhibition celebrating the people who have impacted his practice.

The idea came to him when his father, a professional landscape painter who worked in watercolour, passed away four years ago.

“Just before he died, it struck me that what’s fascinating about art and art history is that everybody is linked in some way,” he says. “Nobody works in isolation. If painters say I’m without influence and have a completely unique voice, I just think that’s untrue. So, I thought it would be nice to do some little paintings of artists who have been influential to me. I started with my father and then just backtracked to when I was eight years old.”

The result is I Am Because You Are, a series of 30 front-on portraits, powerful thanks to the simplicity of their composition. One of

If painters say I’m without influence and have a unique voice, I think that’s untrue Simon’s favourite subjects was Raymond Ching, the illustrator of the 1969 Reader’s Digest Book of British Birds. As a child Simon would slavishly copy the ornithological illustrations and discovered the New Zealand artist now lives just outside Bath.

He paid a personal visit to Ching’s house and took some photographic references, before returning to the studio in his Victorian terrace house to paint up the portrait.

This was the standard procedure for most artists featured in the project, which includes comic illustrators as well as fine artists such as Bernadett Timko, Melissa Scott-Miller and Brendan Kelly. It’s also

indicative of his wider practice. For his comic strips, he takes photos of his family and friends pulling extreme faces and positioned in exaggerated poses to use as references. He even did the “Roy Lichtenstein thing” of blowing up these photographs to paint when he first started his fine art journey. Now, however, he tends to shoot sitters in his studio.

“I’ve always worked from photographs,” he says. “If you view photos as just a part of the process, I think they’re a valuable tool – I use photos as information to interpret rather than to copy.”

One of Simon’s top tips for photographing sitters is to always use natural light and make sure it’s coming from the side – not front on – as it makes for a more descriptive face. With the references secured, he’ll do some thumbnail sketches to nail down the composition. The next step is to get an accurate drawing on the support before laying down the paint.

“I don’t get too hung up on capturing a likeness,” he says of his painting process.

“The little portraits from I Am Because You Are were all done in about four hours. I didn’t want them to be overworked. So speed is very important to me, it’s a nice way of injecting a bit of energy.”

Also significant is his use of Prussian Blue, which is perhaps the secret behind the dreamy flesh tones he creates. “A lot of my painter friends say it’s a crazy colour to use,” he says. “But I just think it’s fantastic. It’s hyperaggressive and if you use a lot, it can go out of control very quickly, but if you use a little bit, it’s so amazing. It’s such a versatile colour.”

Simon seems to have cultivated friendships with many other creatives. His most recent series could not have been possible without reaching out to those who have inspired him. It’s an approach he also took when deciding to take his portraiture seriously, contacting painters he admired for advice.

However, something is always at the forefront of his mind: “I’m fascinated by what painters listen to when they’re painting,” he says. “Some like silence, some like music. I listen to radio plays or story books. Usually, it’s what I call cosy crime like Agatha Christie.”

This mystery will probably never be solved, but if it’s working for you, Simon, please keep it up – both the comic book and fine art worlds are infinitely richer thanks to your dazzling output.

Follow Simon on Instagram: @simon_davis_painter ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 19

G UE S T CO LUMNI S T

H OW I M A K E I T WO R K

Jemma Powell

Artist JEMMA POWELL tells us how she combines a hectic home life with the challenges of being a full-time artist

B

efore I was a painter, I worked as an actress, but I have always painted from as early as I can remember.

My husband secretly set up an Instagram account for my artwork as he felt strongly that to be an artist you must let people see your work. I was nervous and self-conscious when I found out, as I had never been so open before. But the response was very positive and completely changed my view on sharing my work.

Now I really cherish Instagram.

It’s wonderful to have a global community and a platform for my paintings.

My creative process begins wherever I am with my paints, whether it’s in my studio painting flowers, on my travels or out in the Oxfordshire countryside where I live.

My life is chaotic with three kids and four dogs and then my studio is next to the kitchen amongst the hustle and bustle of family life.

Painting is my meditation: I need it to find stillness amongst the madness. If I have complete silence, I don’t feel I can channel what I want to say in paint.

I like to be surrounded by a support network of people, which allows me to make the art I want to make: work that is honest. I feel lucky to have found galleries that let me do that. They listen to me and are patient through times when I am not in flow and my output of work is slow. The important thing is to always trust that it will come back. It’s part of the journey and the rocky ride of being an artist. jemmapowell.com Instagram: @powell.jemma.art

JEMMA’S TIPS ON MAKING IT AS A FULL -TIME ARTIST MISTAKE S Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when painting.

Often the mistakes take you down a path that leads to something quite exciting. Things can appear and a painting takes on a life of its own.

Painting can be very spiritual in that way.

TR AVEL New places inspire new ideas. If I am in a creative rut, I try to go somewhere different, whether it’s abroad or just to stay with a friend in a different place. A change is as good as a rest and allows the energy to flow freely and unlock new ideas.

T O P Stormy Boccadasse, oil on board, 76x102cm A B OV E Lunch with Lucy, oil on board, 75x87cm R I G H T Christmas Teapot, Pears and Paperwhite, oil on board, 75x100cm

DON ’ T PAINT FOR OTHERS Paint what you love or what moves you. In that way the work will always be honest. Honesty is compelling in art, it’s what draws people in.

Even when I do a commission, I am painting for others but within that framework I try to look for the thing that excites me. I make it personal to me, and through that I think it becomes personal to everyone else. ▫

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 21